Sick Daze
by BespectacledSloth
Summary: Everyone has sick days, and some are worse than others. Sick Day drabble dump for sick day request fics. Marked as "complete" for no obligation to write more, K for cutesy fluff. Mostly going to focus on Hiro and Tadashi.


"Tadashi..." Hiro murmured, a raspy, hoarse sound edging under his speech.

Hiro felt achy all over. His joints felt stiff, his feet were cold, his head was hot, and every time he moved he felt like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets from the sheer pain of the headache he had. He attempted to pry his eyes open, but his eyelids felt heavy and his eyes felt numb. Everything motion of any part of his body caused him to feel woozy like he was standing and about to fall over, despite his horizontal position.

"Tadashi," he rasped again and felt the bed sink a little beside him, "Tadashi, I don't feel well," he whispered without opening his eyes to look at his older brother. Tadashi always took care of him when he was sick, even when he had chicken pox and Tadashi had never had it before, he was there by his bedside, risking getting it as well, and taking care of every little thing that Hiro needed. And more than anything, he never let Hiro get out of bed. That was his biggest rule whenever Hiro got sick.

_Stay in bed, Hiro, you dummy. You'll only make yourself feel worse if you get up right now, and then where will you be? Back in bed and feeling more sick. Just lay still, stay warm, and sleep for awhile._ Tadashi would say.

Hiro laughed a little at the thought of even moving a little too excessively in his current state. He felt like death warmed over. Even he didn't want to get up with this particular illness running its course.

He opened his mouth to speak again, shifting to sit up, but instead he felt a rush of nausea and shifted towards the edge of the bed, feeling a gentle hand on his back helping him move, and made it just in time for his entire stomach to empty itself onto the bedroom floor. His ears were ringing and his head felt like it was pitching him forward off the bed until he felt a gentle nudge to get him back against his pillows. He thought he heard someone say something, but if they did, he missed it. His head was spinning and he dare not move again for fear of coughing up stomach acid to match the puddle.

"I need medicine," he said with a slight cough, now more hoarse than ever. "I need medicine, Tadashi," he whispered and instantly felt something cool come to his lips. He hesitated, then drank as he felt a cool liquid slosh up to meet his mouth. When he was done, he lay back into his pillows, having never opened his eyes, and let sleep overtake him.

Hiro had a mostly dreamless sleep, but in the empty blackness that surrounded him for a brief time and kept his thoughts haze of words and memories, he could hear Tadashi. He could hear him talking, at least distantly, telling him he'd feel better soon and that everything would be alright.

_ "Of course everything will be alright,"_ Hiro thought, although it rang around him as though he'd said it._ "I've only got a cold. But you'll take care of me like always, right?"_ When those words echoed back to him, he felt a chill run along his spine as though something was wrong, and the remainder of his sleep was dreamless.

When Hiro awoke, he still felt horrible, but the fuzzy feeling in his head had partially gone, and his eyes didn't feel as heavy, but he still felt like he had a high fever. He started to shift and open his eyes, but quickly felt a cool towel press to his forehead.

_What are you doing? You're running a fever, lie down! _He could hear Tadashi saying as the towel dabbed at the layer of sweat that had gathered along his hairline as he slept. He wondered how long Tadashi had been sitting there taking care of him while he slept. He wondered what time it was, or what day even. Had he woken up yesterday morning and awoken now a full day in the future? He wanted to find out, so he opened his mouth to speak, but only a slight croak came out.

_You've lost your voice? Geez, you must be really sick, Hiro. What did you do, go bot-fighting in the rain again?_

Hiro coughed into his fist and rolled over with a soft groan, curling into the fetal position in his bed and shuddering. Despite how warm his head felt, the rest of him felt like he was freezing to death. He coughed a few more times until he felt a warmth surrounding him. Tadashi had probably taken his own blankets and put them on him. He'd done that before when Hiro had the flu to keep him extra toasty even though Hiro was already sweating under his own covers at the time.

_You have to sweat out a fever first if you want to start getting better._

He snuggled into the covers and felt the pull of sleep take him under again.

While he slept, he kept hearing Tadashi's voice in the distance, and would almost swear he felt the gentle touch of his fingertips combing through his hair, soothing him as he coughed and breathed wheezily through his sleep.

_You will be alright._

Hiro gently awoke some time after the feeling stopped, opening his eyes a crack and rolling onto his other side. He felt chilly again, but he didn't mind. He could smell something cooking downstairs and hoped Tadashi was bringing him something to eat. He felt hungry now, and his stomach definitely felt less queasy. If he tried, he could probably manage to keep some toast and maybe some warm applesauce down.

He didn't know how long he'd drifted off, but when he came to again, there was a tray in his lap and he was still feeling chilly. His head had cleared up a bit and he sat up enough to eat some of the applesauce. He looked around, but, noticing the bedroom door was open, figured Tadashi had stepped out to get something. When he'd eaten a few spoonfuls, he shifted the tray to his feet and laid back down until he saw nothing but black.

This time he dreamt vividly of Tadashi and his endless caring for Hiro. He dreamt of the time Tadashi taught him to ride a bike and he'd fallen and scraped his knee. Hiro had expected him to get mad that he'd failed at something that seemed so logically simple, but instead, Tadashi had laughed and called him a klutz, then bandaged his knee up and had him try again until he stopped nearly running into trees and people and instead rode smoothly down any path. He dreamt of the time Tadashi had come home to find Hiro had been knocked around by some seniors at his high school because he was so young and smart. Tadashi had driven to the school and confronted them the next morning, only to get both of them beaten until a teacher sent the seniors to the office for punishment. Tadashi had looked angry for awhile, but then helped Hiro get cleaned up and taken him out of school for the day to go have fun at the local fair.

_Hiro, it is time to take some medicine_. He heard in the far distance.

Somewhere in reality, he felt the cool liquid come to his lips again and drank, but he hadn't fully bothered to wake up enough by the time it kicked in and knocked him right back out again.

This time he could see Tadashi. He was standing beside him and staring at a burning building, but the fires were very low and the building was sagging like it was melting under the flame. He tried to step forward to do something, but his feet were planted firmly in the ground, as though he'd been glued there, and his body refused to move in any direction. He waved his arms and tried to throw himself to the ground, but all he could do was struggle.

_"I have to do something,"_ he heard Tadashi say as they stared at the building. They looked at each other for a moment, and then Tadashi set off at a sprint towards the building.

_No, stop! _Hiro tried to shout, but nothing came out. _If you go in there, I'll never see you again!_ He wasn't sure why that sounded correct, but it did. He tried to reach out and grab Tadashi, but he couldn't reach. He tried to run towards him, and finally his body moved, but every step he took felt like it was in slow motion as Tadashi ran off into the building. _Come back! Tadashi!_ _Come back!_ He tried to shout again, but he still couldn't. He kept running after him, feeling his feet become heavy and his legs becoming shorter as he slowly became a child, and then a toddler, and then an infant, crawling after Tadashi and crying silently into the emptiness. The building exploded before his very eyes, microbots raining into the skies and surrounded him, drowning him and dragging him under. He could hear Tadashi crying out, telling him he'd be alright, but soon he couldn't hear anything but the microbots.

"Tadashi!" Hiro awoke with a start, this time his entire body felt cold for an entirely different reason. He sat up, alarmed, and looked around.

Tadashi's bed was just the way it had been, covers tucked neatly at the corners, his hat in the middle, and his possessions, almost untouched, covered in a thin layer of dust.

Hiro began to breathe heavily, tears gathering in his eyes as he realized that Tadashi was gone. This whole time he'd been lying here under the delusion that Tadashi was caring for him, but he'd been gone for weeks. Months. Tadashi was dead and there was nothing to keep that from being true, not even a dream.

Baymax was half sitting up beside him, his belly glowing a gentle reddish orange and emitting a faint warmth. He was watching him carefully and Hiro saw the familiar flicker of a scan go past his eyes as Baymax quickly glanced him up and down.

"Your blood pressure is elevated, but your fever has subsided," Baymax proclaimed softly, sounding concerned, "However, your emotional state is declining swiftly. Is everything alright, Hiro?"

Hiro could still feel the tears in his eyes as he allowed himself to sink back against the pillows and process his thoughts. He had been hallucinating from the fever, most likely, and hadn't realized that the gentle person caring for him was Baymax. Baymax had helped him over the edge of the bed by gently supporting him, and Baymax had given him the medicine. Baymax had been what was keeping him warm and bringing him food. He had done everything Tadashi would have done for him.

Hiro felt the tears streaming down his face and began to sob softly. He put his hands over his eyes and tried to snub the tears out, rubbing until his eyes felt sore as he quietly cried to the ceiling. He felt Baymax move closer to him and hug him gently, patting him awkwardly on the head as he tried to comfort him, and all Hiro could manage to do was turn to him and snuggle against him, getting tears against his vinyl skin.

He cried until he felt like he couldn't cry anymore. Until his eyes were red and puffy, and his nose was leaking, and all the tissues in the world wouldn't do him any good. He cried until his body felt empty, and his mind clear. When he finally moved away from Baymax, he scrubbed the remaining tears from his face and sniffled gently.

"Thanks, Baymax," he said softly. "I needed that."

Baymax sat quietly for a moment, then pat him on the head again, "Emotional support is essential in the grieving process," he stated simply. He sat up from the bed and rose slowly, "You still require rest to heal, but my batteries require charging. Are you satisfied with your care?"

Hiro smiled a little and nodded, "I am satisfied with my care," he said softly.

Baymax nodded his head and began his trek across the small room to his charging station. He got inside and was about to deflate and store himself when Hiro said,

"Wait, Baymax,"

"Yes, Hiro?" He said quizzically.

Hiro blushed a little and rubbed his hand through his hair, "Earlier, uh, when I was asleep, how did you know that Tadashi used to comb his fingers through my hair when I wasn't sleeping well?"

Baymax paused, thinking, and then blinked and tilted his head, "I did not know that, and I did not run my fingers through your hair."

Hiro stared at him, thinking he must be joking, but he'd known Baymax long enough at this point to know that he never really told jokes. Well, he did, but they weren't funny or as clever and elaborate as this, "N-Nevermind," Hiro said. "Go back to deflating," he waved his hand in the air and watched Baymax close up into his little box. _That's weird._ Hiro thought, still touching his hair. His head still felt like it had been touched, but if Baymax hadn't done it, and he could only assume Aunt Cass hadn't done it because she'd have been too busy with the cafe to sit up here for so long with him, then it must have been all in his mind. He turned over to go back to sleep and pulled the covers around him, briefly glancing at Tadashi's bed and sighing. He wished it had actually been Tadashi.

Before he drifted off, he could have sworn he heard someone whisper to him,

_Goodnight, little brother._

And the blankets felt a little more snug all around him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Symbolic ghost tucking-in.

Yeah.

So that's a thing now.

CASUALLY WRITES SHITTY ENDINGS FOR EVERYTHING.

Why is it that I can't ever end a story in a way that is either A) good or B) makes sense or C) all of the above? Like how hard could it be? And yet I fail every time? UGH.

Anyways.

Plot bunny thanks to some art of Baymax cuddling with sick Hiro I found on DA.


End file.
